Electronic Pickpockets And The Wallet To Stop Them

Turns out the paranoid people with tin foil on their heads weren’t completely wrong. Except the foil doesn’t need to protect your head, but your wallet. The latest thing in pickpocket-technology is being able to scan your credit or ID cards from several feet away. The Washington Post reports:

Stuck on the tarmac, flipping through a travel magazine, you’re struck by the blurb for metal-lined wallets. Purpose: to prevent digital pickpocketing by blocking radio frequencies.

These handsome babies start at $79.99 and top out at the $225 Italian Leather Teju Lizard Embossed Travel Wallet.

Your reaction: Wow! Luxury accessories for paranoids! But you would be wrong. Maybe.

Because, says electronic security expert Bruce Schneier, crystallizing the view of many: “As weird as it sounds, wrapping your passport in tinfoil helps. The tinfoil people, in this case, happen to be correct.